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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

My fifth graders just received a grant from Safe Routes, The Walking Classroom and our PTO to purchase The Walking Classroom. This program combines academic content with exercise during the school day. I believe the program is available for fourth and fifth graders only. www.thewalkingclassroom.orgThe lessons are preloaded onto a portable listening device.(See above picture) Each device came with a container to store the MP3 player in, a headset, as well as a AAA battery. The students walk and listen to the podcast for 20-30 minutes. The lessons are Common Core aligned and come with other materials ( In a very big, easy to read binder) such as discussion questions (pre and post walking) and quizzes. I really like the idea of getting my students up and out of their seats and outside in the fresh air for 20 to 30 minutes 2-3 times a week. We also received a grant from Safe Routes for a class set of pedometers which I'll be breaking out soon. Yesterday we listened to the first podcast and walked around the gym (it's a chilly 16 degrees in Massachusetts!) Some future podcasts we will be listening to are: Idioms, Casey at The Bat, and the life of Rachel Carson. Some topics match my curriculum, some do not. I am free to choose which lessons I would like my class to listen to.

If you are interested in getting this program into your school start thinking about some funding sources. The PTO was the first place I went to ask for money. I started this process last August and it took 6 months to get the donations in place. I will blog again on this topic in a few weeks and let you know how it is going. Happy trails! Christine